Wednesday, September 19

Alex Bond: Singer/songwriter Jonathan Richman kicked off the evening with drummer Tommy Larkins for the Ninth Street attendees. The wide-eyed Massachusetts native performed an eclectic mix of acoustic folk rock with a worldly influence, singing songs about Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer and a multilingual song about partying. While entertaining, Richman yielded to the fan yelling, “I like Wilco,” admitting, “When I’m in the crowd, I don’t like the opening act that overstays its welcome. We don’t want to be that band.” (read more)

Does anyone know the name of this song? Is it La Festa, La Fiesta, Ja La, or BBQ Party?

~~~~~~

Jonathan and Tommy played a 30-minute set last night, opening for Wilco at an outdoor concert in Columbia, Mo. Here are the songs as I remember them -- aside from the first and last, they're not necessarily in the right order.

"No One Was like Vermeer"
Song I haven't heard before, something about "We just had a fight and I should have been softer"
"Let Her Go into the Darkness" (first time I've heard it with the female character's point of view added)
Foreign language medley: a song in Italian, one in Hebrew and Arabic, and one in Spanish
"I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar"
"Egyptian Reggae"
"O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth"
"Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow"
"My Affected Accent"
"Keith Richards" (first time I've heard it, though I've heard about it)

Jonathan seemed to be in fine spirits and did a lot of dancing. He's opening for Wilco at seven more upcoming shows; this was the first. The set was a delight, though brief. He hasn't been in Columbia for 12 years, and I hope he returns sooner than that.

Saturday, September 15

A long time ago, Jonathan Richman was talking to my friend in Iceland. She said, ‘If I was up there onstage, I would just be dancing around!’ And that made me cry. But then Jonathan Richman said, ‘When you're playing by yourself in front of a lot of people, it's like there's a matador and a bull, and you don't know which one you are. But the one thing you do know is that the crowd wants to see one of you die and one of you survive.’ That made me so relaxed. (source)

According to Pitchfork, Chan Marshall (Cat Power) said the above, but… say what? If factual, the bull reference would seem to reference Picasso in some way and we know about the role of Pablo Picasso's confidence in Jonathan Richman's songbook. Perhaps it's a joke, or a reference to Taurus, Jonathan's zodiac sign… Or a new song? At any rate it would be interesting to see Jonathan Richman and Cat Power touring together.

Until that happens, what could be better than seeing Jonathan Richman supporting Wilco this month?

rialto1961: Jonathan Richman, truly one of a kind....live at Bitterzoet, AMSTERDAM, 16-8-2012, performing WHEN WE REFUSE TO SUFFER, NO ONE WAS LIKE VERMEER, NOT SO MUCH TO BE LOVED (end of show, no encore)

Disclaimer

Jojoblog is maintained with respect by fans for fans. Jonathan Richman does not use the internet or own a computer. Any communication from him to the Jojoblog community is sent through his publicist, Debbie Gulyas of Blue Arrow Records.